Stepping Lively at the Dance Gallery

Those industrious Dance Gallery Guild members have sent invitations to spend “Sunday With Sammy.” Sammy, of course, is Sammy Davis Jr. On March 8, wet cement willing, he’ll imprint those dancin’ feet forever in the concrete circle at the entrance-to-be of the Dance Gallery. And they’ll be matched with those of Sandra Moss, who’s donated the required $25,000 for such proximity.

The luncheon in the Crystal Ballroom will double as a membership attraction, according to co-chairmen Lenny Steinberg and Barbara Bain.

Already Gene Kelly is matched with Ann Sterling, Bella Lewitzky with George Olincy, Gregory Hines with Barbara Bain, and Lucas Hoving with Lenny Steinberg.

A NIGHT IN PARIS: There’s a huge proportion of Toulouse-Lautrec in the gigantic invitations Luminaires Juniors of the Estelle Doheny Eye Foundation have sent for their French party March 14 at Le Bel Age. To ensure outrageousness, president Georgia Dahl and benefit co-chairmen Diane Moller and Jill Young have specified “white tie optional.” Debbie Foster is responsible for the stunning invitations. Susan Bumgarner is watching the costs for the foundation.

Guests will enter into a turn-of-the-century Paris, with couturier gowns, candlelight, French wines. Expect Maxim’s restaurant, the Left Bank, kiosks, flower carts, violins, caviar and champagne. Also expect a cordon bleu menu and Everette Covin and his orchestra.

While guests sip brandy, Candida Genzmer and Brent Kanaly will entice bidders’ responses on items auctioned by Sotheby’s vice president Lisa Hubbard. These goodies include first-class travel to Paris, with five nights at the Hotel Intercontinental and a weekend at the exquisite chateau in Ainay le Vieil donated by the Friends of Vieilles Maisons Francaises; a week in Tahiti at the Bali Hai Hotel; furs from Giba-Noblia; and more incredible items.

Cindy Laverty and Linda Tatum are recreating the nostalgia with assistance from Lucy Hromadka, Kathy Julian, Mimi Owen and Susan Montanaro.

TWELVE STRANGERS: One hundred little dinners for 12 given simultaneously next Sunday throughout Los Angeles are guaranteed to make strangers friends--at least that’s UCLA’s aim. Students, faculty, staff and alumni will gather, just as they did 17 years ago when the idea was to increase communication between campus constituencies.

We know about the party Sheldon and Mary Miller will host for the “Dinners for Twelve Strangers” coordinated by UCLA Student Alumni Assn. and Prytanean. Since the event’s inception, 20,000 have participated.

Among other hosts are Arnold and Phyllis Bresky, Joe and Carol Callaghan, Don and Letha Kemper, Hanna Hoesli, Susan Fredericks, Anita Martinez, Julie and Dick May, John and Susan McGehee, William and Deanne Simon, Kelly Snyder, and Barbara and Bob Stafford.

BLACK TIE: Pat Boone is in the limelight March 9 when the Founders Circle of the Right to Life League of Southern California gathers for cocktails and dinner at Chasens. Loretta Young is honorary chairman. Band leader Joe Moshay will be playing for dancing, just as he is for the Bachelor’s Ball. On the dinner committee: Mrs. Stephen Ackerman, Mrs. C. J. Blasiar, Mrs. James Brennan, Mrs. Daniel R. Burschinger, Mrs. Paul Conn, Mrs. Patrick Crane, Mrs. Frederick Fletcher, Mrs. John Shea, Mrs. Roger Sullivan, Mrs. James Salz, Mrs. J. Thomas McCarthy, Mrs. William Gibbs, Mrs. Paul Griffin, Mrs. Joseph Mahoney and Mrs. Francis X. Maier.

CULTURAL TIMES: The president and trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have sent invitations for a champagne reception March 4 to celebrate the opening of the new galleries of the Department of Prints and Drawings and the Department of Photography. Exhibited for preview will be “Nineteenth-Century French Drawings From the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen” and “Inventories and Transformations: The Photographs of Thomas Barrow.” . . .

USC’s Fisher Gallery hosts the opening reception of “Masterworks From the 16th and l7th Centuries” March 17, with special funding from the Armand Hammer Foundation. . . .

The Gold Card Division of American Express is underwriting the gala preview opening March 3 of “Gold: The Quest for New World Riches.” Governors and trustees of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will headline the black-tie affair. . . .

The Mark Taper Forum is advising, “Save the week of April 6-11 to join our 20th-Anniversary Festival!”

TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY: Debbie Reynolds sang and danced for the “Tribute to Johnny” dinner at the Sheraton Premiere honoring Johnny Grant and benefiting the Arthritis Foundation. Grant created and hosted the first Stop Arthritis Telethon 32 years ago and has been involved since then.

WHERE ARE YOU? Flintridge-Anoakia School for Girls alumnae are searching for alums. They’re staging a reunion luncheon March 21 at Anoakia Hall in Arcadia. Bonny Howes Toole, Sally Marble Lewis, Dorothea Sabin Barnes, Nancy Fishburn Kennedy and Barbara Pearson Sargeant have written countless notes to dig up addresses. Any graduate may call (213) 681-3300 for a bid. Anoakia was originally in Flintridge, later in Altadena, finally on the Arcadia estate of Anita Baldwin between 1942 and 1967, when it closed.

CALIFORNIA’S HARVARD: Benefit chairman Jane Eisner has good Hollywood (read that Burbank for her husband, Michael, chairman of Disney) contacts. She’s arranged the world premiere of Barry Levinson’s film “Tin Men,” a Touchstone Pictures production, for the Harvard School benefit Saturday at MGM Studios.

“Tin Men” is a colloquial appellation for aluminum siding salesmen and features two rival tin men who attempt to outsmart each other in the name of revenge. Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito and Barbara Hershey star at the Cary Grant Theater.

For being extra generous, patrons will be invited to the reception featuring carpaccio, salmon tartare, sushi and pate. Premiere guests later will enjoy Everyman foods: hamburgers, hot dogs, sloppy Joes, French fries, cole slaw, potato salad, lemon-lime and orange Jello molds, not to mention apple pie a la mode, Boston cream pie and a variety of layer cakes. Sometimes, it’s better to be poor.

Working away are Joyce Hameetman, George-Anne Hyams, Linda Janger, Marilyn Kezirian, Ginny Lew, Susi McConaghy, Berry Perkins, Jane Rascott, Georgina Rothenberg, Angie Sheldon and Darlene Tanaka.

COMMITTED: Tennis-pro-turned-actor Vijay Amritraj, who is spearheading the “Say No to AWACS” committee (Airborne Warning and Control Systems) is gathering his Hollywood friends for a fund-raising dinner Monday at Gaylord India restaurant in Beverly Hills. . . .

German baritone Hermann Prey will be guest of honor at the Moroccan evening Monday at Dar Magreb restaurant. Metropolitan Opera National Council Western Region will salute the contributions of the Palm Springs Showcase Concert Associates. Molly Siefert of San Marino and Fran Guenette of Beverly Hills are co-chairmen. . . .

Girls Clubs of America is recognizing “Family Ties” stars Justine Bateman and Tina Yothers and Olympic Gold Medalist Cheryl Miller at a reception in the Paramount Commissary Friday evening following a “Ties” invitational taping.

PAST PERFECT: The Founding Associates of the John Douglas French Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease and banker George F. Moody hosted a crowd on the 53rd floor of Security Pacific Plaza to launch the foundation’s upcoming gala March 29 at the Century Plaza. . . . Jim and Dulce Harris feted star John Raitt and principals of “The Most Happy Fella” with a cocktail reception in their Pasadena home. . . . Daniel Donohue, president of the Dan Murphy Foundation and a major donor to Mount St. Mary’s, was the honoree at the Hilliard Ensemble concert and reception at the college. . . .

The California Alliance Concerned with School-Aged Parents presented Jan Kern of the Los Angeles Junior League with its special recognition award at the statewide conference in San Diego. . . . George Brumder, president of the Pacific Asia Museum board of trustees, and Consul General of Japan Taizo Watanabe officiated over the throwing of the beans to launch the Japanese festival of “Setsubun” and the new exhibition, “Prints of the Dark Valley” (avant-garde Japanese woodblock prints). . . . A barrel of laughs from Milt Larsen and Mrs. Jack Oakie enhanced the fun for “The Kid From Muskogee” performances and the dine-and-romance Valentine’s tribute to comedian Jack Oakie in the ballroom of the Variety Arts Center. . . .

Mayor Tom Bradley and the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission saluted former Metropolitan Opera Star George Shirley at an invitational reception at Transamerica/Occidental Auditorium. . . . Dr. Harry Ward takes a break after the black-tie National Kidney Foundation of Southern Claifornia affair that he chaired. . . . Gregg Juarez staged the celebration of James Paul Brown’s art at his Palm Desert Galleries, relaying proceeds to the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at Eisenhower Medical Center.

PLAUDITS: Margo Sage Hirsh received the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Award from the Bel-Air Council, Navy League of the United States, at the Bel-Air Country Club. . . .

A Grand Champion Ball on Saturday added a classy dimension to the agenda of the Pilot Pen Tennis Classic presented by Newsweek. Proceeds from the $250-a-ticket affair at the new, luxurious $120-million Grand Champion, Indian Wells (home of a 10,500-seat tennis stadium), will benefit the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The tournament has raised more than $1 million for Tiempo de los Ninos of the Desert Hospital in Palm Springs. . . .

The Philoptohos Society of St. Sophia Cathedral honored 15 debutantes Saturday at its annual Debutante Presentation Ball in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton. Mrs. Paul Michael Peratis was chairman. In January, Mrs. William H. Oldknow II entertained for the debs and their mothers at a tea in her San Marino home. Saturday each deb wore a gold crown pendant.